With Apple reportedly out of the electric car game and Tesla losing market share in some Chinese cities, the best EV stock plays are arguably now all based in China. The country is the world’s largest auto market, with new energy vehicle penetration of at least 30%. Most of those cars come from homegrown brands. Tesla China lost market share in January, mainly in China’s large cities, “despite price cuts” announced that month, Morgan Stanley analysts said in a Feb. 28 report that looked at the prior month’s sales distribution. Xpeng and Nio lost share across regions, while BYD saw gains in major cities but losses in less developed areas, where it saw increased competition from state-owned players, the report said. Li Auto ‘s market share waned, and Morgan Stanley analysts are watching whether there will be a boost from new models. The automaker on Friday announced its first fully battery-powered car, a multi-purpose vehicle called the Li Mega. Li Auto’s cars to date have all been SUVs that are technically hybrids since they come with a fuel tank for charging the battery. That product strategy addressed consumers’ range anxiety, and quickly propelled Li Auto to tens of thousands of vehicle deliveries a month, making it the best-seller among its startup peers. Earnings top expectations The U.S. and Hong Kong-listed company last week reported earnings that beat FactSet predictions — and prompted a few analysts to raise their price targets. “Following our upgrade earlier this month, Li Auto delivered impressive earnings/guidance, further cementing its position as a top-tier China OEM,” Deutsche Bank analysts said in a late February report. They rate the stock a buy and raised their price target by $9 to $50 a share. That’s about 9% above where shares closed Thursday, at $45.88. Part of their thesis comes from the automaker’s high gross profit margin, which came in at 23.5% in the fourth quarter, above the predicted 21%. Li Auto management said they expect gross…
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